News

Skype testing software for mobile phones

By Ed Oswald | Published April 25, 2008, 2:54 PM

Skype is looking to expand its mobile offerings and is opening up a public beta for its mobile software.

About 50 different phone models are compatible with the Java-based software. It allows users to chat, show their online presence, and receive both calls from other users as well as through SkypeIn.

The company had been distancing itself from mobile Skype due to handset and technical issues for some time. However it now appears those hurdles have been overcome, and the VoIP software is ready for prime time on mobile devices.

Mobile operator 3 during that time brought Skype to the mobile, however it was not true VoIP as it is commonly found. Instead, the voice signals flowed through a separate voice channel on the company's network.

During the beta, the company will use consumer feedback to adjust the product to meet the needs of its users. Users in several markets also get additional features, including the placing of SkypeOut and Skype-to-Skype calls.

Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom will all have markets that gain those additional features. The beta is expected to last several months.

"We need to hear what delights them and where there is still work to be done," mobile chief Gareth O'Loughlin said of the beta. "This product underscores our commitment to innovation and to putting Skype conversations in the pockets of today's mobile masses."

Those interested in the beta can find instructions on how to obtain the software from the Skype Web site.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

yokozuna
Apr 27, 2008 - 3:59 AM

I am disappointed - the program does not even compare to Fring which also utilizes Skype.

Score: 0

|
Post Reply
xyzcb1
Apr 25, 2008 - 3:22 PM

Thought there software already working in pocket pc? At least the ppcgeeks & xda developer communities are using it.

I don't use skype, so I don't know how well it works.

Score: 0

|
Post Reply
preinterpost
Apr 25, 2008 - 3:34 PM

It works fine and for a long time. It's just one of those things taken for granted by the users but only getting the real hype when Apple starts marketing it a few years later (not looking like going to happen soon in this case...)

Score: 0

|
Post Reply

Security firm: Windows patches not responsible for 'Black Screen of Death'

On second thought, maybe that access control list thingie with the lockdown something-or-rather didn't trigger an alleged, perhaps non-existent, pandemic.

My Windows 7 confession (and why you should confess, too)

I've held back the real reason for sticking with Windows 7, even as, gulp, iLife calls me to go back to the Mac.

Apple settles with Psystar except for 'circumvention devices'

The fracas with the Florida clone computer maker might have ended today had Apple not have muddled the issue over a cheap piece of Psystar software.

Where did Apple's Black Friday sales go?

According to one analyst, Apple sold nearly four fewer Macs per hour on Black Friday than same day a year ago. Now why is that?

Google begrudgingly adjusts news crawling for paid publishers

If publishers want to make readers pay for news content, and thereby drive down its popularity and Google ranking, the company says, they can just go right on ahead.

Fee or free? Murdoch, Huffington square off over the cost of Internet news

Participants in an FTC workshop yesterday witnessed the two extremes of the Web news publishing debate, still centered on the issue of long-term profitability.

Microsoft denies latest 'Black Screen of Death' claims

After an anti-malware producer announced a fix to what it says is a swarm of recent KSoD problems, evidence of the swarm itself has yet to turn up.

Latest Firefox 3.6 beta fixes 133 bugs, promises faster page load times

A once-sluggish beta testing process has kicked into overdrive, with astonishing success at finding serious bugs. Will Mozilla be able to fix all the others in time?

Confirmed: Office 2010 to ship in June

Two weeks after Microsoft had been expected to draw a clearer roadmap for its principal applications suite, it's finally ready to commit to the end of H1.

New EU antitrust commissioner will oversee Microsoft, Oracle+Sun, Intel issues

As one of Europe's most prominent politicians shifts positions in January, her replacement remains a question mark over technology's biggest issues.

Without its own 'iTablet' yet, is Apple missing the boat?

Steve Jobs is on record as dissing "single-purpose" devices like e-readers. But given their recent popularity, was that a mistake?